Ufford
Parish Web Site
Parish Web Site
Parish Web Site
At their monthly meeting on 16th July 2024, Ufford Parish Council were shown revised plans for the renewal of the Gas Main through the village, from representatives of Cadent Gas Ltd. This was followed by a conversation the following day with Suffolk County Council’s Network Assurance Manager, Sam Guiver.
Following concerns raised by Ufford residents, Ufford Parish Council and neighbouring Councils, Cadent have changed their plans and will not be implementing a full closure of High Street and Yarmouth Road during the summer and autumn. The works will instead be conducted using 2-way traffic lights in the High Street, or in the grass verge where no restrictions to traffic flow are necessary. The work is planned in stages and together with replacements in Byng Hall Road will take almost 6 months to complete. Activity may run in to 2025 but the use of traffic lights will reduce disruption to Ufford’s smaller lanes, buses can run as normal and access to businesses will be available at all times. A detailed plan of the works can be found here: Gas Works Plan
Unfortunately the revised plan still requires the closure of Byng Hall Road, and separately two adjoining lanes in Pettistree, for a period of around 4 weeks. During this time access to properties will be available for residents and Cadent will have onsite staffed access control for other vehicles. Emergency contact numbers and details will also be widely published and supported.
Ufford Parish Council will be working with residents, businesses and Cadent to ensure this period of the work is as non-disruptive as possible. We are grateful to our County Councillor, Alexander Nicoll, SCC Network Assurance and Cadent Gas Ltd for their support in finding a better solution to the planned works.
In response to the Parish Council's letter of 1st June 2024, the following letter has been received from Cadent Gas Ltd:
Letter from Cadent Gas Ltd (5th June 2024)
The Parish Council will continue to work closely with Suffolk County Council Highways and Cadent/Costain Ltd, and will report all updates on this page.
As previously announced on PUNCHLine, under Government plans to replace all cast-iron gas mains, a replacement to the Gas Main in Ufford and Pettistree was announced by Cadent Gas and Suffolk County Council Highways, involving a 12 week rolling road closure from the High Street up towards Wickham Market from early May until August.
After pressure from the Parish Council and County Councillor Alexander Nicoll, these works were postponed and Cadent Gas held an Information Event concerning the proposed works in the Ufford Community Hall on 23rd May 2024. This event was attended by 140 residents from over 50 different IP13/12 Post Codes and many questions were put to the staff present. As a result, 74 comments from individuals and businesses were transcribed and forwarded to both Cadent Gas and their partner Costain Ltd, along with a copy to Suffolk County Council (SCC) Highways.
Ufford Parish Council (UPC) would like to thank all those who attended this event. It demonstrated a very strong show of concern from residents and local businesses, if this work were to proceed as initially planned.
After this meeting and based on the concerns raised by local people, Suffolk County Council Highways withdrew the permit to proceed with the works. They have required Cadent/Costain to undertake Sample Hole Drilling to ascertain whether other methods of pipe laying can be used. The Parish Council have strongly suggested that at least six different Sample Drilling sites are explored, due to the different soil types and geology in the area affected.
Ufford Parish Council have now written a five page letter to Cadent/Costain/SCC; setting out the concerns of residents and businesses, suggesting alternative ways in which the gas main replacement can be delivered and the detailing conditions required for the works to proceed. We are presently awaiting a response to this letter.
Here you will find:
This project is evolving on a daily basis and we will endeavour to update all residents and businesses via PUNCHLine.
